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Rocky Balboa
Robert "Rocky" Balboa, Sr. (born 1945) is a fictional boxer created and portrayed by Sylvester Stallone who has appeared in the ''Rocky'' series from 1976 to 2006. He is famous for being extremely tenacious and most of all as Micky would say 'fights with his heart'. Biography Robert "Rocky" Balboa was born in the year 1945. A Roman Catholic, he quit school after the ninth grade. Up to 1975, Balboa was living in the slums of South Philadelphia working as an enforcer for a local loan shark while at the same time fighting the local club circuit. By this time, Rocky has fought in 64 fights, winning 44 (38 KO'S) and losing 20. A source of pride for Balboa was that he never had his nose broken in a professional fight (He eventually suffered a broken nose in his first fight with Apollo Creed). He is close friends with Paulie Pennino whose sister, Adrian Pennino, he would ultimately marry. Rocky Balboa was a very influential man in 1976 when the first Rocky movie came out, and still was in 2006 when the last one came out. Rocky Balboa is the main character of the Rocky series which had six total movies out from 1976-2006. In the series Rocky is played by Sylvester Stallone. The series starts off with Rocky, a club boxer, in the city of Philadelphia. Rocky gets his big break in the first movie when heavyweight champion Apollo Creed decides he wants to give some local talent in Philly a chance to fight for his title. After some debate Creed chooses to fight Rocky, but against all odds Rocky goes the distance with Creed. Creed wins the fight by decision. In the second movie, Creed wants to have a rematch with Rocky to face public opinion, which believed that Rocky won the fight, but it turns out the worst for Creed and Rocky wins the Rematch and becomes heavyweight champion of the world. In Rocky 3, Rocky is challenged by a new comer in the high ranks of boxing; Clubber Lang. Rocky has some issues with his trainer Mickey because of his health before the fight but fights anyways and is knocked out early in the match losing his title. After the match Mickey dies and Rocky is devastated. When it seemed like all hope was lost, Rocky started training with Creed, and gets a rematch with Clubber Lang. After a long hard battle in Madison Square Garden, Rocky won the fight, along with his title. When Rocky 4 rolled around Apollo Creed and Rocky had been training together for quite sometime, but Creed had been retired, yet he was itching to fight. Apollo got his chance in a charity event with a man from the Soviet Union, Ivan Drago. The fight starts off in a funny manner with Creed having fun dancing around, but ends up a totally different story with creed dead in the center of the boxing ring. At that point Rocky felt some what responsible and set up a match with the infamous Ivan Drago, but there was a catch. The fight was to be held on Christmas day, in the Soviet Union. So Rocky flew out to the Soviet Union and started training with nothing more than snow to run in and a log cabin to work out in. The night of the fight Rocky was in a foreign country in a stadium full of soviets cheering for Ivan Drago. The fight starts off as if Ivan Drago isn’t human and is unable to be hurt and he pounds on rocky. Then after a couple of rounds of Rocky swinging away and no visible damage is done, Rocky catches Ivan Drago in the eye and cuts him, showing the world that he is in fact human. The fight progresses fast after that with a bloody battle between the two men and with the Soviet crowd slowly turning to Rocky’s side. The fight ends with Rocky knocking out Ivan Drago in the last few seconds of the fight, leaving Rocky with victory. Rocky V is a turn of events when it starts off with Rocky losing all of his money and going back to living the ghetto of Philly. Rocky starts training an up and coming fighter, Tommy Gunn. Tommy Gunn slowly becomes the best fighter around, but still didn’t have the title yet. Tommy Gunn ends up leaving his trainer Rocky over an argument and wins the title. But because of the controversy on whether he was actually a champ because he never fought the real champ, Rocky, he challenges rocky to a fight. Rocky declines but after a turn of events rocky and Tommy Gunn end up in a street brawl with Rocky taking control and showing Tommy Gunn who is boss. The latest movie, Rocky Balboa, was released this past year in 2006, whereas Rocky V was released in 1990. In Rocky Balboa, Rocky is somewhat of an older man living out his days running a little restaurant in Philly when one day he sees a computer generated version of a hypothetical fight between the Past champ, Rocky (in his prime), and the present one, Mason Dixon. The fight has Rocky winning, and it stirs up some commotion. Rocky and Dixon end up having a charity fight. After some training, Rocky got back in the ring one last time. Rocky and Dixon duke it out for the entire distance of the match which was to some people out of question. Dixon ends up winning the fight on a tie breaker; But Rocky was the real champion. He exceeded his goals, along with everyone else’s by going the distance. Character Origin Boxing Style Though right-handed, Rocky fights as a southpaw (left handed). He's a hybrid-fighter, possessing the qualities of an Inside-fighter, brawler, and swarmer. With the exception of his rematch against Clubber Lang where he fights as an Outside-fighter, he advances quickly upon his opponents, driving them into the ropes and setting upon them with a devastating body attack. Rocky is well known for wearing opponents down over the course of a bout. Balboa's iron jaw allows him to take brutal punishment throughout his fights. With an iron will, he is known for overcoming seemingly insurmountable odds to triumph over his opponents. It is this trait that inspires fans worldwide, sending the message that nothing is out of reach if one believes in himself. Balboa, as stated by Jim Lampley during the fight against Mason Dixon, is renowned for his "cast iron jaw, ferocious body attack, and will of steel; all of which carried him to victories over the years against physically superior opponents". Rocky has an uncanny ability to sense weakness in his opponents, seizing every opportunity to capitalize on a momentum shift in his fights. No matter how exhausted and battered, Balboa pushes his offensive edge. In the first title fight with Apollo Creed, announcer Stu Nahan refers to Rocky as a "bull in a china shop" after witnessing the offensive onslaught. The fight scenes in the last movie, Rocky Balboa, are considered to be the most realistic in film history, with many boxing experts considering Stallone's in-ring performance to be his best ever.http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=7080 Trivia *He was once a smoker.*Though he fights as a southpaw, Rocky writes with his right hand.*His car's registration plate reads "S0THPAW".*Though he is responsible for the popularization of the red, white and blue trunks in popular culture, Balboa wore a combination of black and gold for the majority of his career, including the rematch with Apollo Creed. The red, white, and blue trunks were - in fact - a present from Creed for the rematch against Lang, and a tribute following his death.*Authorities in the Serbian village of Žitište plan to build a monument to Rocky.*Rocky had defeated 3 previously undefeated fighters: Apollo Creed, Clubber Lang, and Ivan Drago.*Was mentioned in Mims' song Like This References 2. Keenan, Ronan. The Relevance of Rocky Balboa http://www.boxingscene.com/?m=show&id=7080 External links *Report on Rocky 6 and comparison to Rocky Marciano*AUDIO: Sylvester Stallone on boxing and faith*Statue Photo of Rocky Balboa statue at Philadelphia Museum. Category:Boxers